The students at Quinnipiac University were thrown one curveball after another both before the SPB spring concert and during Saturday night.
The Academy Is., who were scheduled to open the show, canceled at the last minute, disappointing a number of students. In an e-mail sent from Daniel Brown, director of the Student Center, just one day prior to the show, it stated that “unfortunately, the band is going through some personal challenges and will not be able to travel to QU.”
Christina Tafuri, a junior health science major said, “I was shocked when I heard they weren’t coming. They were the only band I really wanted to see perform, and I didn’t even go to the show because of it.”
Rhode Island band Zox, who have played major tours such as Warped Tour, Bamboozle and Bonaroo, were brought in last minute as a replacement. The band, who have been getting a lot of play on MTV, also received some praise from the Quinnipiac community despite reactions of the band being on stage for too long.
Sophomore psychology major Melissa Boulay said, “I liked them a lot, especially their presence on stage. The guitarist and lead singer [Eli Miller] seemed to really be enjoying himself, which is important. It increases the energy of the crowd.”
Probably the most talked about event of the night was rap/hip-hop artist T-Pain, who kept the crowd waiting 20 minutes before finally arriving on stage. Once present, he let it be known that we weren’t at a T-Pain concert, but rather, a party. Although entertaining, he only played 30 or 40 seconds of a song, talked in between and tried to recruit girls to go to a party with him. What was most shocking, though, was that people actually left during his performance that went overtime.
“I liked it when he actually played music, but songs were few and far between,” said freshman Mike Farrell. “He’d play like a minute of a song and just when everyone was getting into it, he’d stop and start talking for ten minutes. It was ridiculous. He had like an hour and a half set and probably only played about 20 minutes of music, if you can call it that. He’d play his collaborations, but only the parts he sang on, and then he’d stop.”
But, another shocker. T-Pain, accompanied by numerous members of his entourage and security, entered the crowd while Hamden police gathered around before pulling him off to the side. By this time, at least 1/3 of the crowd left, leaving plenty of room for Jack’s Mannequin fans to scurry up to the barricade to get even the slightest glimpse of front man Andrew McMahon.
A born performer, McMahon wowed the crowd with his incredible energy, piano skills and general onstage presence. He treated the students to new Jack’s Mannequin songs as well as a performance of “Me and the Moon,” a song written during his Something Corporate days. And as a finale, performed Tom Petty’s (McMahon is a fan) “American Girl,” which amazingly excited the crowd more than anything.
“He never puts on a show that’s bad,” said junior media production major Caitlin Downer. “I’ve seen him play a number of times, and the fact that he played new songs here was awesome. I absolutely can’t wait for the new album.”
